Project Overview

My Role

My Challenge

Developing Personas

Savepoint's goal is to help event attendees connect with each other to split hotel/accommodation costs. I was tasked in 2017 with developing multiple personas based on Facebook posts with people attending The Big House 6 tournament (October 7-9, 2016).

With 70 Facebook posts, I focused mostly on the people Savepoint interacted with.

Of the people that requested housing:

They were overwhelmingly male and under 25.

They had tight finances.

They prioritized social interactions and opportunities over privacy.

They were tech savvy.

Below are examples of the posts.

Savepoint put users into three categories:

Converted- Those who used Savepoint services successfully (Charlie).

Converted but dropped- Those initially interested but then changed their minds (David).

Non-converted- Those who found other accommodations (Josh).

The personas I created reflected the main priorities of cost, social interaction, and gaming.

Later, I reviewed video interviews of 22 people who attended KatsuCon, an annual three-day anime convention.

The results:

When looking for a place, people ask friends first, and go onto social media if that doesn't work.

Most people were wary of lodging with complete strangers because of safety concerns or differences in how they would use the room.

Hotels are expensive and other options were welcomed.

A lodging app would be especially useful for people new to the convention circuit.